St. Landry democrat., 1887-01-01

this witness know that there is an old fam
! lily quarrel between these two parties.
There always has been variance between
the world and the church, and while the
| world on the witness stand to-day has told
| a great deal of truth about this Christian
man, you must take it all with some allow
ance, remembering that they will still
/ keep the old grudge good o, World of the
/ greedy eye and the hard heart, that will do.
| Y GU may sit down.
The second witness I call in this case is
| Conscience. Who art thou, Oh Conscience
what is your business? where were you
| born? what are you doing here? "Oh,"
says Conscience, Il was born in Heaven.
came down to befriend this man. I have
lived with him have instructed him;
have warned him. l showed him the right
and the wrong, advising him to take the
one and eschew the other. l have kindled
great light in his soul. With a whip OF
scorpions l have scourged his wicked
ness, and l have tried to cheer him
when doing right; and yet L am
compelled to testify on the stand
to-day that he has sometimes rejected
my mission. Oh, how many cups Of life
have pressed to his lips that ne dashed
down, and how often has he stood with his
hard heel on the bleeding heart of the Son
of God! 1t pains me very much that have
to testify against this Christian man, and
yet | must, in behalf Of Him who will in no
wise clear the guilty, say that this Chris
tan man has done wrong; he has been
worldly; be has been neglectful; ne has
done thousand things he ought not to
have done, and left undone a thousand
things he ought to have done" That will
do, Conscience. You can sit down.
The third witness | call in the case Is an
angel Of God. Bright and shining one,
what dOest thou here? what hast thou to say
against this man on trial!'' "Oh!n says the
angel, Il have been a messenger to him;
have guarded him; l have watched him;
with this wing | have defended him, and
oftentimes when he knew it not led him
into the green pastures and beside the still
waters. l snatched from him the poisoned
chalices. When bad spirits came upon him
to destroy him l fought them back with inf
mite tierceness; and yet have to testify to-
day that he has rejected my mission. He
has not done as he ought to have done.
Though l came from the sky he drove me
back; though with this wing l defended
him, and though with this voice I WOoed
him, have to announce his multiplied inn
projections. / dare not keep back the tes-
timony. for then should not dare to appear
again amongst the sinleSs ones before the
White Throne"
There is only one more witness to be
called on behalf Of the prosecution, and
that is the great, the holy, the august, the
omnipotent Spirit Of God. We bow down
before Him. Holy Spirit. knowest Thou
this mani ooh, yes" says the Holy One,
Il know him: have striven with him ten
thousand times, and though sometimes he
did seem to repent he fell back again as
often from his first estate. Ten thousand
times ten thousand has he grievcd Me. al
though the Bible warned him, saying:
'Grieve not the Holy Ghost. Quench not
the spirit Yes, he has driven Me back. |
Though l am the third person Of the Trim |
ity he has trampeled on My mission, |
and the blood of the atonement that 7
brought with which to cleanse his soul, he |
sometimes despised. 1 came from the |
throne of God to convert, and comfort, and |
sanctify, and yet look at that man, and see |
what he is compared with what, unresist.
ed, would have made him."
The evidence on the part Of the prosecu-
ton has closed. Now let the defense |
bring on the rebuttal testimony What |
have you, 0 Christian soul, to bring in re-
ply to this evidence of the World, of the |
Ghost2 No evidenced Are all these things
truef Eyes, unclean, unclean," says every
Christian soul. What? Do you not begin
to tremble at the thoughtof condemnation
We have come now to the most interest
ng part Of this great trial. The evidence
all in, the advocates speak. The profession
If an advocate is full of responsibility. In
England and the United States there have
arisen men who in this calling have been
l0nored by their race and thrown con-
.empt upon those who in the profession
rave been guilty OF great many mean
lesses. That profession will be honored az
ong as it has attached to it such names as
Mansfield, and Marshall, and Story, and
Kent, and Southland, and William Writ.
The court room has sometimes been the
scene Of very marvellous and thrilling
hlngs. Some of you remember the famous
5lrard will case, where one of our advo-
'ates pleaded the cause of the Bible and
in mastery Anglo-Saxon.
very paragraph thunderbolt.
Some of you have read of the famous
rial in Westminster Hall of Warren Hast
1gs, the despoiler of India. That great
ian had conquered India by splendid
alents, by courage, by brides, ~ gigantic
ishonesty. The whole world had wrung
nth applause or condemnation. Gathered
4 Westminster Hall was one of the most
amous audiences ever gathered. Foreign
minister's and Princes sat there. Peers
iarched in, clad in ermine and gold
tightly men and women from all lands
'oked down upon the scene. Amid all
hat pomp and splender, and amid ,
n excitement such as has seldom
cen seen in any courtroom, Edmund
burke advanced, and in speech which will
asst as long as the English language, con-
luded with this burning charge, which
lade Warren Hastings cringe and cover: